The At Issue series from
Greenhaven Press has become a
standard in many public high school
libraries, due primarily to the
pro/con, point/counterpoint, balanced
approach it takes with any
controversial issue or topic. The
introduction of each volume is used
to give readers a historical and current
perspective on the issue, and an
overview essay from a previously
published source is used to present
the controversies surrounding the issue.

The introduction to this volume
attempts to cover the history of this
controversial topic from Charles
Darwin's publication of his evolutionary
theory in 1859 to the Scopes
"monkey" trial in 1925 and up to the
machinations taken by the Kansas
state board of education in 2005
when it redefined science and
opened the door to supernatural
explanations in its classrooms, and
its reversal in 2007, when it returned
to the more mainstream scientific
definition of evolution. Missing from
this introduction and the overview
essay, however, is the Kitzmiller v
Dover Area School District decision
from 2005, in which a federal district
judge ruled that this Pennsylvania
school district violated the
Constitution by requiring the presentation
of "intelligent design" in its
science curriculum. This court decision
does appear later in the book,
but does not receive adequate or fair
coverage.

The essays compiled by the editor
for this publication are reprinted with permission from a variety of
publications, including newspapers,
magazines, professional journals,and
books. It should also be noted that
these essays have been edited to
meet certain publication requirements.
Prominent and not so prominent
spokespersons from both sides
of the issue are featured in this volume.
If you have followed this battle
for any length of time, you will recognize
several of the names of the
commentators with essays included
in this edition. Two of the more outspoken
commentators included in
this volume are William Dembski
and Richard Dawkins.

Following the point/counterpoint
style of the At Issue series, the
book presents a piece arguing that
"intelligent design" is based on science,
not religion, and then a piece
countering that "intelligent design"is
religion, not science. A third perspective
also is offered: "intelligent
design" is neither religion nor science.
This particular essay, written by
John Derbyshire, a journalist and
author who writes for conservative
political newsmagazines, originally
appeared in the conservative magazine
National Review. Evolution is
then addressed by Dawkins in his
essay entitled, "Evolution is an
accepted fact," and is countered by
Dembski's attempt to compare evolution
to alchemy.

Considering this volume is primarily
targeting high school students,
the biggest problem with
Dembski's article "Evolution is a
flawed theory",which is reproduced
in its entirety, will be the difficulty
high school students will have in following
and comprehending
Dembski's meandering discussion of
how evolution resembles alchemy
more than science. For example, I
wonder how many students would
comprehend his conclusion, "The
lesson of alchemy should be plain:
Causal specificity cannot be
redeemed in the coin of metaphysics,
be it Neoplatonic or materialistic"
(p 56). The selection of this
essay to counter Dawkins's argument
was a poor editorial choice. I
am sure that there are plenty of
other pieces the editor could have
selected that would have been more
age-appropriate and readable for
high school students.

The tactic of incorporating "intelligent
design" in the science curriculum
by "teaching the controversy"
also is addressed. Jonathan Witt, a fellow
at the Discovery Institute, takes
the point of view that "Critical analysis
of evolutionary theory should be
taught in the public schools." Alan
Leshner, chief executive officer of
the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, counters
with the obvious point that the science
classroom should be used for
the teaching of science. Leshner
summarizes, "At a time when the
United States faces increasing global
competition in science and technology,
public school science classrooms
should remain free of ideological
interference and dedicated to
the rigor that has made American science
the envy of the world" (p 66).

This volume provides a further
legitimate rebuttal to the "teach the
controversy" argument, with an
essay entitled "Intelligent design
should be taught in religion classes,
not science." It is in such classes,
according to Michael Ruse, professor
of philosophy at Florida State
University, that beliefs such as "intelligent
design" can be debated along
with other "faith-based" beliefs.
As previously mentioned, one
area where this book significantly
fails is in its coverage of the
Kitzmiller v Dover Area School
District decision. The book does not
fairly or adequately cover this major
judicial decision.The only article that
addresses this case, "Outlawing discussion
of intelligent design in
schools is a violation," is written by
John Calvert, an attorney who serves
as managing director of the
Intelligent Design Network, and
counsels school boards, school
administrators, and science teachers
regarding the teaching of what he
calls origins science.

Calvert misrepresents the judge's
findings in the Dover decision, calling
it "twisted", and claiming it effectively
establishes a state sponsored
ideology. He even claims that the
court "inserted a religious bias into
science, while purporting to remove
one" (p 73). Unfortunately this book
does not provide a counterargument
to Calvert's interpretation, so the
average student, with a limited or no
awareness of this judicial decision,
will be left with a highly skewed
interpretation of what even the
media described at the time as a very
thorough and comprehensive ruling.
Unless a science teacher or a high
school librarian selecting this book
has stayed current on the issue of
"intelligent design", this shortcoming
in the book will be easily overlooked.

This book, as part of the At Issue
series, does a fairly thorough job of
presenting both sides of the various
arguments surrounding the "intelligent
design" versus evolution battle.
However, the content of several of
the articles, as previously mentioned,
will require some introductory
knowledge and understanding of
evolution.

One would hope that books like
the At Issue series will encourage
critical thinking and analysis among
high school students, as they are
designed to do.However, it has been
my experience as a high school
librarian that many students
approach controversial topics with a
preconceived opinion. Students
picking up this book, or even going
into the publisher's on-line version
(Opposing Viewpoints), will migrate
to the point of view that supports
their belief, while ignoring the
opposing viewpoint. This is not the
fault of the publisher or the editor in
their choice of articles, unless they
neglect to include articles from a
certain perspective. Encouraging
students to review and analyze viewpoints
critically is the role of the
teacher or the media specialist. As
teachers, we need to encourage students
to approach controversial
issues with an open mind and to be
receptive to different points of view.
Students looking for arguments to
support a particular point of view in
the "intelligent design" versus evolution
debate will not be disappointed
in this volume.

Michael K O'Sullivan is the
Instructional Media Coordinator at
Rosemount Senior High School in
Rosemount, Minnesota. He is coauthor,
with his wife Connie O'Sullivan, of "Monkey business: The
intelligent design war has come to the
school library" (School Library Journal
2005 Nov; 51 [11]: 42–5) and "Selection or censorship: Libraries and
the intelligent design debate" (Library Review 2007 Mar; 56 [3]: 200–7).